Some finished projects to show you....

I am very excited today to show you the result of the 'experiment' that I wrote about in my last post.  I had such a lot of fun adding free motion applique/embroidery details to this little piece of patchwork that I had previously quilted.

After adding the applique shapes to the altered background, I set about free motion embroidering over the applique shapes to add detail and definition to the shapes.  This is not as easy as it sounds.

I originally added the detail to the seed heads in a green thread to match the fabric that I had used for the applique which looked quite nice to start with. 

However, once I had added the details to the leaves in brown,

the green didn't look quite right, so I had to add some brown to them as well.

I then added some extra details, including the butterflies and the sequin 'berries' and I am really happy now with the end result.  So happy in fact, that I started another quilt made in a similar way.

This one I pieced together using some lovely hand-dyed fabrics which I bought from the In Stitches Studio.  They are just perfect for making this sort of quilt. I then quilted the background with wavy lines using my walking foot.

Then the fun started!! I added some simple 'poppy' applique shapes, including a bud and some seed heads and then filled in the details using free motion embroidery.  

Finally, I added some hand stitching to complete the centres of the poppies and the flight paths of the butterflies.

I am really enjoying exploring these techniques and can't wait to get started on my next project!!

Thank you for visiting and I hope you have a creative week!